The present invention relates to a method for disposing waste, and the object thereof is to provide a waste disposal method wherein the organic waste including sludge from both water supply and sewerage, livestock excreta such as fowl droppings and pig excrement, carcasses of livestock, agricultural waste such as dried grass and rotten crops, and raw garbage such as both animal-based and vegetable-based food residue is fermented and decomposed efficiently in a short time of period, and is disposed and then recycled so that the waste can be used effectively.
Presently, the industrial waste such as sludge, excreta and constructive wooden waste is discharged about four hundred million tons per year in our country. Within these industrial waste, about one hundred and fifty million tons are recycled, yet the rest (i.e. two hundred and fifty million tons of the industrial waste) and most of the ordinary waste are disposed by incineration and landfill.
However in these days, incineration disposal and landfill disposal are getting difficult as the amount of the waste is increasing. The ways of collecting waste and recycling them are argued.
For instance, although the organic waste such as the sludge from both water supply and sewerage, livestock excreta such as fowl droppings and pig excrements, carcasses of livestock, agricultural waste like dried grass and rotten crops, and raw garbage such as both animal-based and vegetable-based food residue can be recycled, most of the above are incinerated. Recently, these organic waste are on trial to be used as compost by fermented accumulation.
Also, due to the prohibition in the usage of mixed agricultural chemicals such as poisonous DDT and BHC and chemical fertilizers, using non-poisonous agricultural waste and animal-based and vegetable-based food residue effectively as compost is getting more necessary in the U.S.A. recently.
However, it takes about 1 to 6 months to ferment the waste if the organic waste are disposed as compost by fermented accumulation. Therefore, the usage of waste as compost is not efficient. Moreover, since the organic waste with some water contained such as sludge and both animal-based and vegetable-based food residue are easily decayed and changeable in their states, the surrounding environment can be affected by their bad smell. It is more likely that the efficiency of recycling waste is not very high. A method of disposing waste wherein sludge from both sewerage and water supply, livestock excreta like fowl droppings and pig excrement, carcasses of livestock, agricultural waste like dried grass and rotten crops, and raw garbage including both animal-based and vegetable-based food residue are fermented and decomposed efficiently in a short period of time, and are disposed and then recycled so that the waste can be used effectively, has been sought.
The present invention is to solve the said problems. The invention as set forth in claim 1 comprises the steps of:
a mycelial carrier-support comprising 80-95% by weight of a porous carrier of 3-30 mesh in particle size in the state of pH 6.5-9.5 comprising at least one kind selected from charcoal, active carbon, coal, coke, active coke, peat, palmculite, perlite, and bentonate;
providing from 5-20% by weight of bacterium and fungi mixture in which Bacillus subtilis of a thermophile is present as a majority of bacterium present, and more than one kind of a genus selected from a list consisting of Thermoactinomyces genus, Thermonospora genus, Actinbifida genus and Thermopolyspora genus;
a waste into which 5-40% by weight of this mycelial carrier-support to a weight of waste are added are fermented by agitating in an atmosphere where a fermentation system temperature is maintained at more than 15xc2x0 C.;
as the fermentation temperature, which is maintained at 55-80xc2x0 C. by aeration, starts to rise, the waste is decomposed. The invention as set forth in claim 2 relates to a method for disposing waste as set forth in claim 1 comprising that said waste is an organic waste which comprises more than one kind of waste selected from agricultural waste, food residue, sludge, human waste and wooden waste. The invention as set forth in claim 3 relates to a method for disposing waste as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mycelial carrier-support waste mixture after decomposition is admixed with soil to enrich said soil.
In the present invention, the waste can be disposed of by adding mycelial carrier-support.
The examples of the organic waste are the sludge isolated from water supply and sewerage at water treatment plants like water purifying plant, sewage treatment plant, human waste treatment plant and industrial effluent treatment plant; animal-based food residue such as meat and fish; vegetable-based food residue such as vegetable, seaweed and leftover rice; raw garbage like okara, extracted coffee residue and extracted sugarcane residue; extracted seaweed residue; livestock excreta like fowl droppings and pig excrements; carcasses of livestock; agricultural waste like dried grass and rotten crops; and human waste. It also includes wooden waste such as paper sludge, wood flour and wood bark.
If water contained 70-100% by weight of such waste, it is better to dehydrate down to 50-60%, so that the waste can be fermented efficiently. Moreover, it is much better to fracture the waste in order to maintain the temperature for aeration that will be mentioned later.
The mycelial carrier-support used in the present invention comprises 80-95% by weight of a porous carrier and has 5-20% by weight of mycelium. It can be obtained through the method which has been disclosed by the present inventor in both Japanese patent publication No. 5-59079 and U.S. Pat. No. 5196042.
The mycelium supported by the porous carrier is an association of thermoactinomycetes and microorganisms leading thermophile. Using such thermoactinomycetes and the mycelial carrier-support which supports the mycelium predominated by the thermophile, the waste can be fermented and decomposed efficiently.
The thermoactinomycetes is an actinomycetes which can grow at the temperature of 55-80xc2x0 C. In this invention, the actinomycetes that belongs to at least one genus selected from Thermoactinomycetes genus such as Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, Thermomonospora genus such as Thermomonospora chromogena, Actinobifida genus such as Actinobifida dichotomia, and Thermopolyspora genus such as Thermopolyspora flexuosa. 
Also, the thermophile is bacterium which can grow at the temperature of 55-80xc2x0 C. In this invention, Bacillus subtilis is used.
The porous carriers which support the mycelium comprise at least one kind selected from carbonated porous carrier such as charcoal, active carbon, coal, coke, active coke, peat and palmculite; perlite and bentonate. It is possible to use the porous carriers which comprise more than two kinds selected from the above.
The mycelial carrier-support comprising such porous carriers can hold enough water and air which are the necessary components for the growth of the thermoactinomycetes and the thermophile, and does not disturb the growth of the thermoactinomycetes and the thermophile while adding them into the waste, and it perfectly ferments the waste.
The pH of the porous carrier is pH 6.5-9.5 which is the appropriate pH range for the growth of the thermoactinomycetes and the thermophile. Therefore, it prevents the growth of harmful fungi such as germs and filamentaous fungi which hardly grow under the condition of alkaline, and the fermentation with the thermoactinomycetes and the thermophile can be done efficiently.
Also the particle size of the porous carrier is limited to 3-30 mesh. Therefore, in the fermenting stage with the mycelium, the fermentation temperature can be maintained at 55xc2x0 C. above, and the waste can be composed completely with the themoactinomycetes and the thermophile.
By adding such mycelial carrier-support into said organic waste, the waste is fermented, decomposed and disposed.
The amount of the mycelial carrier-support added has to be 5-40% by weight of this mycelial carrier-support to a weight of waste. In case of the amount of the mycelial carrier-support added is reduced, the waste cannot be decomposed favorably, and in case the amount of the mycelial carrier-support added is increased, the favorable fermentation temperature cannot be obtained because the water supplied from the waste as the water content of the fermented substances reduces. Neither of the above mentioned cases is favorable.
The fermentation conditions for fermenting the waste by adding the mycelial carrier-support are explained hereinafter.
Firstly, the waste is fermented under the favorable condition while agitating the mycelial carrier-support added waste in an atmosphere where a temperature of the fermentation system is maintained at more than 15xc2x0 C. This is to keep the uniformity of fermentation by keeping the constant temperature with the system temperature from the outside temperature. The reason for the system temperature to be above 15xc2x0 C. is that the fermentation temperature does not sufficiently rise favorably in the case of the temperature is below 15xc2x0 C. Then, as the fermentation temperature which is maintained at 55-80xc2x0 C. by aeration starts to rise, the waste is fermented and it can be completely decomposed and disposed in a short time of period with the work of said thermoactinomycetes and said thermophile.
The method for disposing waste which relates to the present invention is explained above, and according to this method, the waste can be completely decomposed and disposed of in a short time of period. In other words, in case of using the customary fermented accumulation method, it takes 1-6 month(s) to ferment the waste completely, but the method related to this invention, the waste can be disposed of within 7-14 days. Therefore, the waste can be efficiently disposed and effectively recycled. Moreover, since the obtained compost has effects in promoting the growth of plants and in preventing the obstacles of continuous cropping, it can be used as a plant activator and as a soil regulator.
The smell of the waste can be reduced down to xc2xd-{fraction (1/100)}, thus reduces odor. Furthermore, the volume of the waste can be reduced to {fraction (1/10)}, thus the volume can be reduced.